Leddies.

The Velenntyne Day is here, and louve is in the air.

(sniff) Can you smell it?

Annyway.

Let’s celebrate romance by taking a look at some of the more romantic literary characters to have tumbled out of ‘romance novels‘ (and similar works of propaganda that were almost certainly metaphors for the authors’ own failed love lives);

1. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre – (Alternately cold, imperious, and withholding; he proposes to Jane without disclosing the much-married madwoman imprisoned in his attic)

2. Richard Sharpe of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series – (“He’ll fall in love with anything in a petticoat”, according to Patrick Harper – Richard’s loyal friend)

3. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – (In 2010, a protein sex pheromone in male mouse urine, that is sexually attractive to female mice, was named Darcin in honour of the character)

4. Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights – (A man prone to domestic violence, kidnapping, murder and digging up dead lovers – a fact perhaps unknown to Gordon Brown when he compared himself to “an older Heathcliff, a wiser Heathcliff” in 2008.)

5. Rupert Campbell Black of Jilly Cooper’s The Rutshire Chronicles – (Cooper has acknowledged that Rupert’s character is based upon Andrew Parker Bowles, the ex-husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Incidentally, she left him for Prince Charles – a man with a face for radio)

That’s just the beginning of my list. I could go on and on, but let me not kill all that love in one go. So more later….Till then

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

A quick witted, hot tempered, “i-will-do-as-I-please-the-world-be-damned” heroine; a high handed, roguish and equally temperamental hero; Regency

England replete with its gossip, glitter and graces. The Bath Tangle has all the ingredients that have made Georgette Heyer’s romances instant best sellers. The main protagonists are  intelligent, and therefore in the language of regency romances, “unconventional”, hot headed and egoistic. Their battle of wits and egos leads to a series of misunderstandings, mistaken engagements and an interesting tangle. And the setting for all these misadventures is, of course, as the book name suggests, Bath.

When 25 year old Serena Carlow discovers that her eccentric father has entrusted the Marquis of Rotherham, the man she jilted and therefore publically shamed, as her guardian she is furious. As if that is not sufficient, the old Duke also willed that Serena would get all her entails if and only if, she married with the consent of the “infuriating” Marquis. To cope with her changed circumstances Serena escapes to Bath with her step mother, the soft hearted, albeit dim witted and very young, Fanny. Here she meets an old flame and promptly becomes engaged to him. What follows is a series of misadventures till all is set right in the end.

The Bath Tangle is above all Serena’s story. The male protagonist is present but more in Serena’s  thoughts and reflections than in actual scenes. In Serena we once again find the almost “stereotypical” Regency heroine – daring, intelligent, unconventional, proud and loyal to those that she loves. Yet Heyer’s writing ensures that there is not a dull moment in the book. The characters of the hero and the heroine may seem somewhat familiar, but their exchanges and indeed their interactions with others are so lively that nothing in the book seems repetitive. The Bath Tangle is full of Heyer’s trademarks- vivid descriptions of life in Regency England, strong characters and brilliant characterization, charming if somewhat obsolete Regency vernacular and lots of sarcasm and witticisms. Of course some times the reference to the politics of the era leave the modern reader a bit bewildered but then these are minor distractions.

An interesting read for those who enjoy well written historical romances.

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Agatha Christie

(15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976)

Born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Devon, United Kindom, Agatha Christie needs no introduction. The youngest of three children, Agatha was initially home schooled by her mother and a series of governesses. She trained to be a singer and pianist but due to her shy nature she did not make a career of it. Duing World War 1 she worked as a nurse and then went on to work in a pharmacy; many attribute the use of poison in her novels to her experience with drugs and medicine. On Christmas Eve in 1914, Agatha married an aviator, Archibald Christie. They divorced in 1928.

Agatha started writing her first novel as a result of a challenge issued by her elder sister Madge. It was rejected by 6 publishers and took 5 years to be published.In 1920, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was  finally published and her use of poison in the mystery found mention in the Pharmaceutical Journal. Agatha met her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan in Baghdad in 1930. For the next 30 years she would often accompany him on digs and her experiences were reflected in her autobiographical, Come, Tell me how you Live.

Few people know that Agatha also wrote 6 romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott. Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers’ of America Grand Master Award. Her novels have sold the maximum number of copies after the Bible and her books have been translated into 103 languages.

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Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

(15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938)

Born in Hoogly, West Bengal, Sarat Chandra spent the first half of his life in poverty. He lived with his uncle in Bhagalpur and the place had a profound influence on his work. It was in Bhagalpur that Sarat Chandra wrote the novel Devdas. After his parents death, poverty forced Sarat Chandra to leave his studies and in 1903 he left to work as a clerk in Rangoon. On the eve of his departure, he submitted a short story under his uncle’s name. The story won the first prize and was published. This encourages Sarat Chandra to keep writing and soon his popularity led to an improvement in his financial situation. Sarat often wrote about the evils that plagued society (though he never consciously adopted a reformist agenda)  and was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He died of liver cancer in 1938.

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Popular titles include:

Devdas

Charitraheen

Parineeta

Srikanta

JONATHAN KELLERMAN

Born on August 9, 1949 in New York, Kellerman is the award winning author of many suspense novels. Most of his novels star the fictional child psychologist, Alex Delaware and reflect his own training in psychology. Like Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children. In 1985 he won the Edgan Award for the first Alex Delaware novel, When the Bough Breaks. Kellerman has also co-authored many mystery novels with his wife Faye Kellerman.

Some of his best selling titles include:

Time Bomb

Double Homicide

Billy Straight

The Murder Book

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BARBARA DELINSKY

Born as Barbara Ruth Greenberg in Boston on August 9, 1945, Barbara Delinsky is a best selling romance-mystery novelist. In High School Barbara was thrown out out of an English Hons class as she couldn’t keep up. She took lessons in Ballroom dancing, piano and flute.  After her first son was born, she took loads of pictures of him and that inspired her to begin working as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. In time, Barbara realised that she was better at writing than at photography. In her own words, “I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book — and it sold.”

Some of her popular works include:

Facets

Three Wishes

Looking for Peyton Place

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ISABEL ALLENDE

Image courtesy: http://www.isabelallende.com/roots_album_frame.htm

Born on August 2, 1942, Allende is the world’s most widely read Spanish language author.  She was born in Lima, Peru where her father (the first cousin of President Allende of Chile) was serving as an Ambassador. She worked as a journalist for many Latin American publications. During an interview, the famous poet pablo Neruda commented that she had too much imagination to be  a journalist. Thence began Allende’s literary career.

Allende’s writings are often based on her own experiences and portray very strong women protagonists. In her own words, “Writing is a process, a journey into memory and the soul.”

Some of her famous works include:

Daughter of Fortune

City of the Beasts

The House of the Spirits

The Island beneath the Sea

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MADELINE BAKER

Madeline Baker, also known as Amanda Ashley was born in California on August 2, 1963. She started writed because  was bored with nothing to do after her kids went to bed. Six years and 31 rejections later her novel, Reckless Heart was published. Since then she as established herself as the queen of historical romances. Some of her books include:

Under Apache Skies

Wilderness Christmas

Reckless series

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Reviewed by Ruth Zothanpuii

After Stephenie Meyer’s remarkable novel Twilight, reading  New Moon (a sequel to Twilight) was another delightful experience.

Although many think that New Moon works well enough as a stand alone, I still think that the only way to have a better understanding of the story and to get maximum enjoyment is from reading Twilight first.

But if you think that New Moon is essentially the same as Twilight, it may prove to be a big disappointment because, here, we feel the absence of the Vampires ( much to the dismay of many vampire fans,I am sure).

The book begins with the celebration of Bella’s eighteenth birthday. The thought of getting older than Edward who turned a vampire when he was just 17 troubles Bella who, even if she joins him in immortality, will always be physically older than him. Bella desperately wants to be like Edward but he is afraid that she will lose her soul if he makes her like the rest of his family. An appalling incident at Bella’s birthday party makes Edward realize Bella’s fragility when among his family. He is convinced that the only way to keep Bella safe is for her to lead a normal life and for him to leave her. This changes everything. For Bella, Edward was her whole world and his abandonment was something that cannot be repaired easily. Her whole world falls apart and she withdraws from everything else, becoming even more isolated and lonely. But this is also the situation that makes us see Bella more clearly and she is definitely worth a thousand credits. No doubt she is a fighter. While pushing through the agony, and not having enough strength to live for herself, she lives for others – Charlie in this case – this has always been her style.

The next thing I love the most about this novel is the development of Jacob Black’s character. That a minor character in Twilight has developed into such a fantastic character is the great strength of this novel. I love Meyer’s idea of blending the actual Quileute’s legend into this.

A must read if you haven’t already.

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David Malcolm Storey

This English award winning novelist is a former professional Rugby League player besides also being a playwright and screenwriter. Storey wrote the screenplay for This Sporting Life (1963), which was adapted from his first novel of the same name, which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. He was also presented the Booker Prize 1976 for his novel Saville.

Some of his famous works are:

This Sporting Life (1960)

Flight into Camden (1961)

Saville (1976)

As it Happened (2002)

Bren Yarbrough Bruhn

American author of historical romance novels, Bruhn was heavily influenced as a teenager by the work of Kathleen Woodiwiss and Margaret Mitchel. Besides being a writer, Bruhn has also been actively involved with art. Her first novel took shape after she was urged by her clients to write a book on the lines of the short stories that accompanied each of the handmade dolls that she sold on ebay.

Some of her works include:

Far From Paradise (2006)

The Price of Eden (2009)

Delilah’s Pirate (2009)

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A sequel to the bestselling Bridget Jones Diary by the same author, this book definitely provides laugh-out-loud moments that Fielding gave to readers in the first installment. Although there are more humorous incidents with Edge of Reason than Diary, the reader is required to suspend his or her disbelief on occasions. But this book is provided for the purpose of pure escapism, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The continuation of Bridget’s story-her search for love as a symbol of her post-feminist, post-modern search for herself in ‘The Edge of Reason’ is actually more poignant than before.  While most great romance novels end off with ‘and they lived happily ever after,’ this book deals with ‘what happened afterwards?’ In the first novel, Bridget finally does find her man. But is their relationship all smooth sailing? In the second novel, Fielding shows us that it is not. There are plenty of misunderstandings that create conflict and leave space for insecurity and doubt to creep in and, possibly, cripple a relationship. All’s well that ends well, of course, since this is a romantic comedy, but along the way the reader receives enough depth and tenderness to charter the way with Bridget herself.

Bridget is still Bridget, weighing herself daily and smoking too many cigarettes; but this time instead of obsessing about finding a boyfriend, she is consumed with doubts and insecurities about the relationship she is already in. The narrative is once again provided in an amusing diary format. However, there can also be such thing as having too many oddballs as characters. Almost every character, save maybe Mark Darcy, comes across as extremely eccentric and borders on being slightly insane.  After having been together for a full four weeks Bridget and Mark are driven apart by a series of misunderstandings, which include  the vicious schemes of Rebecca  and the bad advice that Bridget has gleaned from the self-help books that comprise her library. While Bridget struggles with the idyllic images she had regarding her perfect relationship, her friends offer her support with some words of ‘wisdom’ and intoxicating substances. The great thing about this book is that even with all these twists in the storyline, it completely preserves the tone, voice, characterizations, and humor of the first Bridget Jones book.

The Edge of Reason is a delightful and amusing sequel. If you have seen the film, be prepared for the book to be nothing like it. This is another one of those stories where the book proves itself way better than the movie. And if you are in the mood for something easy to digest, then you will find that this book is close to perfect for just that.

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The tea houses of Japan, the graceful and beautiful young women performing in them, their elaborate hairdos, waxlike skins, enchanting costumes and hidden lives. For long, these cultural vignettes of the East have intrigued the outside world. Who is a Geisha? What is her life like? Is she a cultural ambassador, an artist, a kept woman or a companion? Just like the tea houses of Japan, the lives of its entertainers have been shrouded, tantalizing the outside world with that occasional glimpse or two. It is this mysterious world that Golden purports to explore in his Memoris of  Geisha.

Golden’s protagonist Chiyo, is a poor, nine year old daughter of a fisherman with unusually beautiful eyes. When her mother is on her deathbed, a local businessman sells Chiyo to an okiya (the place where a Geisha is trained and stays) in Japan’s Gion district. The book follows the story of this nine year old as she first rebels and then accepts her fate. As she is introduced into her new, mysterious life, so is the reader. With her, we learn how to wear a kimono; we uncover the secrets behind the luminous white complexion and the elaborate hairdo of the Geisha; we witness the rigourous training and brutal disciplining – both mental and physical, young girls are subjected to in order to become “the perfect companion,”  for the rich and the influential. We see how innocence is trodden over;  replaced by guile, grace and an instinct to survive.

The book reads like an autobiography. Golden begins by recounting how his friendship with Sayuri, a prominent Geisha of Gion led to the book. He makes the audience believe that his historical fiction is a real story, told by a real Geisha. The narrative is in first person and most people end the book believing that it is a true story. Well that it is not. And while it describes the life of a Geisha and Japan’s Gion district is vivid detail, it is by no means a faithful rendering. Golden may have uncovered some facts, but his perspective remains that of an outsider. His story is based not on real life experience but detailed research, which while commendable is neither neutral nor always accurate. That being said, there is no taking away from the fact that the insights or glimpses provided by Golden are indeed interesting. The book is an engaging read and Golden’s writing style enables the readers to experience the emotions of Sayuri. They feel her confusion when she is sold off, her distress when she is separated from her sister, her misery at the horrors visited upon her at the okiya, her elation at becoming a successful geisha and her love for  the unattainable chairman; for the Memoirs of a Geisha is, at the end if the day, a historical love story set against an exotic and enthralling backdrop.  If you are looking or a love story that goes beyond the prescribed formula, and provides great characterisation, pick up this book.

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William L. DeAndrea

American mystery writer and columnist, he won three Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. His novels have been widely successful, and have featured different themes such as the wild west and espionage. His Matt Cobb mystery series drew on his experience working for a major American television network.

Some of his famous books are:

Killed in the Ratings

The Werewolf Murders

The Fatal Elixir

Unholy Moses

Patricia Brisco Matthews

American writer of gothic, romance and mystery novels. She wrote under the pen names P.A. Brisco, Patty Brisco, Pat A. Brisco, Pat Brisco and Patricia Matthews. She and her husband also collaborated on several romance and suspense novels using the pseudonyms Laura Wylie and Laurie Wylie.

Some of her famous books are:

Harold Jensen’s Hope Chest (1959)

The Crystal Window (1973)

Dance of Dreams (1983)

Touch of Terror (1995)

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